'''Dunland''' was a part of [[Enedwaith]] east of the [[North-South Road]], well south of the [[Glanduin]] and north of the [[Isen]]. It was a foothill region that fronted the western slopes of the southern [[Misty Mountains]].<ref>{{UT|Map}}</ref> Far from the centers of population of [[Arnor]] and [[Gondor]], its inhabitants at times included the [[Men]] known as [[Dunlendings]] as well as wandering [[Hobbits]] and [[Dwarves]].

'''Dunland''' was a part of [[Enedwaith]] east of the [[North-South Road]], well south of the [[Glanduin]] and north of the [[Isen]]. It was a foothill region that fronted the western slopes of the southern [[Misty Mountains]].<ref>{{UT|Map}}</ref> Far from the centers of population of [[Arnor]] and [[Gondor]], its inhabitants at times included the [[Men]] known as [[Dunlendings]] as well as wandering [[Hobbits]] and [[Dwarves]].

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Dunland was a fair, fertile land. By the end of the [[Third Age]] being neither prosperous or civilised, it was sparsely inhabited by unorganised herdsmen and hillmen.<ref>[[Robert Foster]], ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'', entry "Dunland"</ref>

Contents

History

The First Men in Dunland

In the early Second Age, Dunland first acquired a significant population of Men when those who had dwelt in the forests of Enedwaith south of the Gwathló fled from the Númenóreans after they began to cut down all of the trees.[3]s

When the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor were established early in the Third Age the land of Enedwaith (and the region of Dunland) were largely ignored, although the inhabitants were nominally subjects of Gondor.[4]

The Stoors Stay in Dunland

About T.A.1150 the Hobbit-breed known as the Stoors left their early homeland in the upper vales of the Anduin and crossed the Redhorn Pass. Some settled in the Angle and other traveled down the Loudwater and settled in Dunland. While the Stoors in the Angle vacated that area in 1356, those living in Dunland remained until around 1630 when they migrated to the newly founded Shire.[5]

The Middle Years of the Third Age

The Great Plague swept through the northwest of Middle-earth in the years T.A.1636 – 1637.[5] Dunland suffered, but to a lesser extent than in other regions due to their self-isolation. After the end of the royal line in Gondor the Dunlendings ceased to be subjects of the realm. During the years of the Watchful Peace (1975 – 2050), as the people of Calenardhon dwindled, the Dunlendings began drifting across the Isen.

The expansion of the Dunlendings to the southeast of Dunland was checked when the new realm of Rohan was established in 2510. In the subsequent centuries there was tension between the Dunlendings and the Rohirrim, which reach open war in the time of Helm Hammerhand.

Guarding the Gap of Rohan was the fortress of Isengard, where a hereditary guard watched for Gondor. However, by the time of the Beren, Steward of Gondor, these guards had mixed with Dunlendings, and it had become hostile to Gondor. To remedy this situation, in T.A.2759[5] Beren gave Saruman the keys to Orthanc, to guard Isengard for Gondor.[6]

The Later Third Age

Beren's decision to trust Saruman however had severe consequences, as before and around the War of the Ring, the Wizard inflamed the Dunlendings' grievance and enmity to the Rohirrim[8] and concentrated a great military force which besieged them at the Helm's Deep. After the Battle of the Hornburg, the Rohirrim allowed the surviving Dunlendings to return to their homes. The Rohirrim required that all hostilities cease, and that the Dunlendings retreat behind the Isen river again.[9]

Etymology

Dunland meant "Hill Land" in the language of neighbouring Rohan, whose people named it after arriving in nearby Calenardhon in the later Third Age. Dunland is understood as "Brownland" (Old Englishdunn means "brown, dusky, dull"), referring to its inhabitants being swarthy and dark-haired . The element dunn had no relation to the Elvish root dûn meaning "west".[11]